Today’s
The World Around Us
will be presented
in Lao and English,
with subtitles in Arabic,
Aulacese (Vietnamese),
Chinese, English,
French, German,
Indonesian, Italian,
Japanese, Korean,
Lao, Malay,
Mongolian, Persian,
Portuguese, Russian,
Spanish and Thai.

Greetings, noble viewers.
Today on
The World Around Us,
we travel to the beautiful
Laos in Southeast Asia.
Laos is known as
the Land of
a Million Elephants,
a name that comes from
the time of the ancient
kingdom of Lan Xang,
which existed from
the 14th to 18th century.
Vientiane is the capital
of Laos and is located
along the Mekong River,
which is one of
the world’s longest rivers.

Our journey today starts
with the magnificent
Pak Ou Caves located
at the intersection of the
Ou and Mekong rivers,
in north central Laos.
The Pak Ou Caves
are comprised of
a lower cave called
Tham Ting and an upper
cave called Tham Theung.
They are carved into
the limestone cliff
overlooking the river.
These caves are noted
for the thousands
of Buddha statues
that adorn them inside.

The lower cave,
Tham Ting, is smaller.
It lets light in and offers
the best views of the river.
There is a path
by the side of the cliff
leading to the upper cave,
which is darker
but holds the majority
of the Buddha statues.
Some are reclining,
some are standing, and
still others are sitting
in meditation.
It is said that
these Buddha images
have been left
at the caves
by the local townsfolk
over many centuries.
In the beginning before
the spread of Buddhism,
the caves were used
for the worship
of river spirits.

Halo.
Okay, so,
welcome to Tham Ting
or Tham Ting Cave.
The days
before the Lao people,
we believe in nature
or the spirit, the ghost.
That time,
we are not Buddhists,
so most of the people,
they have to respect
the spirit or the ghost.
The cave is located
in the Pak Ou District.
On the right-hand side
is the Nam Ou River, or
the end of Nam Ou River.
So they give the name
of Tham Ting,
that’s the Pak Ou Cave.

And normally, this cave,
many people,
they travel by the boat,
so they have to stop here
for a short rest,
for paying respect to
the spirits or the ghosts,
and the safety
for the boat when they
have to go upstream
or downstream.
So, this cave,
they founded
in the 15th century by
the King Setthathirath.
They’ve got lots of
the Buddha statues
in the cave.
There’s a total of 4,000
Buddhas in the cave.

The Tham Ting is
very nice.
It’s by the side of
the river and
lots of the mountains
are around the cave.
The general view
is very nice.
The days before,
there was a monk and
he lived at this cave,
not the lower cave,
just upper cave,
for meditation.
Just only him alone
to live in the cave to
make meditation
by himself.
And then he just left.

And then some people,
they come to this cave.
And some of the people
around here, they bring
some Buddha statues
for respect in the cave
with them.
And then
they just went back
and then they didn’t
bring the Buddhas back.
They left the Buddhas
in the cave here.

The passages and shelves
of the caves are lined
by these serene-looking
Buddha statues.
We cannot help
but feel in awe of them
as we make our way
through the cave.
The calm beauty and
stillness of the Pak Ou
caves attract tourists
from all over the world.
The devotion of
the people who lived here
has been so deep and
intense that it has led to
the accumulation
of thousands of Buddha
statues in these caves.
Thus, the caves have
been transformed into
a grand temple.

The Tham Chang Cave is
yet another beautiful cave
in Laos.
This cave is located in
the area of Vang Vieng,
which is a riverside town
in central Laos.
The cave of Tham Chang
provides a majestic view
over the city’s green
fields, lush mountains,
and the Nam Song River.

This cave was used as a
refuge in the 19th century,
and thus was named
Tham Chang.
Tham means cave and
Chang means loyal
or steadfast.
It is possible to
swim deep into this cave
from a mountain spring
which leads right into it.
Let’s take a tour
of this cave now.

Here is the Tham Chang
Cave of Vang Vieng city.
Concerning
this renovation,
there are two junctions.

The first one goes to
a meditation room.
The second one
goes to the inside
of the cave.
Inside the cave,
there are lots of
carved rock sculptures.
We go up there and
we will know about
the real story, such as
of the rock carvings
of jungle monks
getting alms.
Now we talk about
the stairs: there are
147 steps in this cave.
And inside this cave
there are many kinds of
rock sculptures such as
the Quan Yin statue.
Jungle monks
getting alms, or it could
be called the grandfather
and the grandmother.

Next to it are
the “ten thousand and
thousand bank notes”
trees, and stalactite rock
scintillating
like diamonds.
In the second room is a
jungle monk’s armchair,
then a white elephant
with jasper tusks,
a toad king,
and a fan blowing wind
through chalky rock.
All are made from limestone.
And the last one is
a cymbal of copper.
We can knock it with
our hand, and it sounds:
mooing! mooing!
The next room
has no light.
The left side junction,
still two kilometers
remain
to get out of this cave.

Now we turn to the
left side of the junction.
From the left side
of the junction, there will
be a statue of an elephant
with 3 heads,
statuette of Miss Manola,
statuette of a camel,
jungle monks
getting alms,
monks getting alms and
in retreat there since
100 or 1,000 years ago.
This room is 3 kilometers
long, and 10 meters wide.
Inside the cave
there is a long hole
through the ceiling,
one needs light to enter.
Without light,
one cannot get inside.

A lot of tourists
prefer to come to visit
Tham Chang Cave due to
the availability of electricity
inside the cave, and also
they like to swim here
in the cool water.

This concludes
our program exploring
the fascinating caves
of Laos.
May visitors continue to
come and admire their
splendor and peaceful
meditative ambience.

Gracious viewers,
thank you
for your company today.
Coming up next is
Words of Wisdom,
after Noteworthy News,
on Supreme Master
Television.
May Heaven bless you
with a peace in your heart.